Jounghye Rhi currently teaches Korean language classes at the East-West School of International Studies (EWSIS) in Flushing. EWSIS offers three Asian languages—Chinese, Japanese, and Korean—as options for foreign-language courses for high school and middle school students. The school is composed mostly of non-Asian students. Since the school has only a few Korean students, the Korean language program had difficulty in attracting enough students. However, Korean community leaders, as well as Rhi's efforts to encourage students to participate in Korean cultural activities, helped keep the program alive. Rhi served as the 8th President and the 12th Co-President of the Korean American Teachers Association of New York (KATANY).

In her essay, she describes how she became a public school teacher after she experienced difficulties after immigrating to the U.S. in 1982. She also shares her experiences of teaching Korean to non-Korean students. Below is a short excerpt from her essay: